DreamWorks Studios has acquired the feature film rights to EA’s popular video game franchise, Need for Speed, it was announced jointly today by DreamWorks CEO and Co-Chair Stacey Snider and EA President of Studios Frank Gibeau. Brothers George and John Gatins developed the original story with George writing the feature’s screenplay. The screenplay is based on the Need for Speed series, but is not based on an individual game.
EA will produce along with John Gatins and Mark Sourian. Scott Waugh (Act of Valor) is attached to direct, and the project will be fast-tracked at DreamWorks with a target production start date for early next year, for a 2014 release.
The film adaptation will be a fast-paced, high-octane film rooted in the tradition of the great car culture films of the 70s while being extremely faithful to the spirit of the video game franchise. In Need for Speed, the cars are hot, the racing is intense and the story keeps players at the edge of their seat.
Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Chairman said:
“I’m excited about getting back into the creative trenches with John and George Gatins and my partners at EA to bring to life an exhilarating script based on an epic video game that seems to have been made for the movies. This is a big piece of business for DreamWorks and we are grateful to Frank Gibeau, Pat O’Brien, Kevin Maher and John and George for choosing us to deliver their goods.”
Stacey Snider, CEO and Co-Chair of DreamWorks added:
“George, John and EA brought a very compelling story to us which we believe is going to make a fun, cool movie franchise. With such a large following around the globe, we’re excited to make a film that does justice to the popular underlying video game series.”
Frank Gibeau, President of EA Labels commented:
“We are thrilled to be in business with our friends Steven Spielberg, Stacey Snider and the entire DreamWorks team. They are the perfect partner to take Need for Speed to the big screen by creating the exciting action film that we have always envisioned.”
Patrick Soderlund, Executive Vice President, EA Games Label concluded:
“It’s fantastic to be working with a team that shares not only our love of cars, but also our passion for creating blockbuster action experiences. This collaboration will be greatly enhanced with the team at DreamWorks – which is a great home for the Need for Speed franchise.”
Need for Speed is the premier racing game in the video game industry and one of EA’s best-selling video game franchises. Since the release of the first title, the series has sold more than 140 million units worldwide, generating an estimated $4 billion in retail revenue, making it one of the biggest franchises in video gaming.
Need for Speed serves as a reunion with both George Gatins and John Gatins with DreamWorks. George was an executive producer on the studio’s 2010 film “She’s Out of My League.” John’s previous projects with DreamWorks include the 2005 film “Dreamer” which he wrote and directed. He also wrote the script for last year’s “Real Steel” and has been working on the script for its sequel. He recently wrote the script for “Flight” which will be released by Paramount later this year.
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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